Here you are, sitting in this strange rectangle of a room. Prepare yourself, because you are in an intieresting semester. This is Comp 301D, and I am thrilled to be the one to inform you that if you don’t want to, you don’t have to write a single essay this semsester.
“WHAT?” you say, “WHAT? This is a COMP CLASS, lady!”
That it is, but it is unlike most comp classes in this: you get to choose what sort of genre (foreshadowing!) you want your work to be. Prof Garcia also assumes that at this point in the semester you know how to craft a coherent, articulate essay and so now you are allowed to make blog posts titled “I can has Harry Potter now?” so long as they are well written and give reference to education.
Also, I’m sure a handful of you are under the mindset that when you are going to be teacher, you want to be that cool teacher that isn’t “All about the grade.” So don’t freak out when you are suddenly in a class that isn’t all about the grade. Worry less about rubrics and more about passion. If your project is about education and you put enough time and passion into it, you WILL get a good grade. Trust me. So don’t waste precious class time whining about how you just want to know how many words your first genre paper should be, or what he means when he says that it doesn’t have to be a paper if you don’t want it to be. We all know when we have half assed something; just don’t do that on whatever you may choose your project to be and you will be fine.
Here are my top 3 tips:
You will get very, very burned out from thinking of blogs and so ask Garcia for that list of ideas that we came up with of things to blog about. Or have your class make one of your own!
Get creative with your genre paper… this class may be the only chance you get to do something this open ended in college.
If you have a question (a housekeeping question…) about your projects, blog, etc., please go to his office hours and discuss it with him. One thing I disliked about our generation of 301d was that we would spend a good 10-15 minutes every class period talking about things that should have been taken care of by that individual on their own time.
Lastly (yeah I know I said I had three tips, DEAL WITH IT), have fun. Its like the syllabus says… “This is your class.”
Make it a good one.
Cheers! Alexis
99 Problems but a Tie Ain't One 